


Normal

by Ninkasa



Category: Doctor Who, The Sarah Jane Adventures
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-11-30
Updated: 2009-11-30
Packaged: 2017-10-04 00:57:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,681
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24214
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ninkasa/pseuds/Ninkasa
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Luke and Jenny try to work out a way to have an ordinary relationship in extraordinary circumstances.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Normal

"Twice it cost me 80 pounds!"

Luke threw a look over his shoulder at Jenny, who had slipped slowly  
back until she was completely anchored in the corner. Luke wedged  
sufficiently between her and the furious Sarah Jane.

"You did say we could call each other whenever we wanted." Luke said  
slowly. "And texting is cheaper than calling!"

Sarah Jane looked at the bill in her hand and then back at her son in  
exasperation. Oh, she was going to throttle the Doctor for  
"jiggery-poking" Luke's phone so he could call Jenny wherever in time  
and space she was.

She wondered who was paying for Jenny's bill. Or if she had a bill.

"It's only in the texting portion of the bill, Luke. Don't you two  
know how to SPEAK to each other?"

Jenny made a face over Luke's shoulder, but bit back the response  
when Sarah Jane threw her an angry look.

"Sometimes there's not a good time to actually be talking," Jenny  
said after a moment, slowly edging forward to where she could grasp  
Luke's shoulder while still keeping him between her and Sarah Jane.

She was sure it said something that she could face down alien  
monsters and black holes, but Luke's mother still scared the hell out  
of her.

Well, wasn't entirely that Sarah Jane frightened her -- although that  
was a bit of it -- it was that she couldn't bear the thought of Sarah  
Jane – or anyone on Bannerman Road being upset with her.

They'd been kind and accepting of her when she'd not really known  
anyone else on Earth. Before she'd found Martha or met Captain  
Harkness. Sarah Jane had let her come into the house before she'd  
known who Jenny's father was. Simply let her in because Luke kept  
turning up with her in tow.

Rani and Clyde – well, more Rani than Clyde – had been suspiscious of  
her. Honestly, she suspected that was something else, but after about  
a month, Rani had warmed up considerably.

Facing down a mutant plant tended to bond people. No one else had  
gotten why she kept calling people "Seymour".

Sarah Jane was frowning at her now. "And you think texting is a  
better way to communicate when being threatened by aliens?"

Well, no. And really, that wasn't what she'd meant. What she'd meant  
was. . . "I meant at night. So the phone ringing doesn't wake you. I  
don't always know what time I'm hitting. It's not like the TARDIS is  
exact any more and Da's driving is terrible."

She had a ballpark time period of when the messages were coming into,  
she could usually hit it within a few months. Although she'd been very  
annoyed when she'd sent Luke a message and not gotten a response. The  
messages had become increasingly more distressed until he'd suddenly  
called with the info – "It's Christmas. We were at Clyde's. I  
couldn't answer."

Two weeks in the summer of 1929 for Jenny had been six hours in the  
winter of 2009 for Luke.

Sarah Jane looked like she was giving up arguing. It was sort of  
like going on a carousel, you just kept going round and round but  
making no progress.

Sarah Jane sighed. "From now on, you pay for whatever excess you rack  
up. If you're going to abuse it, you can pay for it."

Luke squeezed Jenny's fingers , which had slowly closed over his own.

Sarah Jane shook her head. "Go on. " She called out after the closing  
door, "Be back by ten. . .tonight."

She didn't know if they heard her.

*****

They were slipping and sliding down the slope towards the football  
field. The rain from earlier had left everything covered in a fine  
layer of water. Just enough to make it difficult to keep their  
footing.

Jenny caught onto Luke's arm as her feet slipped again. She frowned  
slightly. A year ago, she'd have turned cartwheels on this grass.

A year ago, she had done precisely that, come to think of it.

A year in earth time, anyway. It was confusing, even for her  
sometimes. She couldn't imagine how it was for those stuck on Earth.

She smiled because Luke was watching her and she didn't want him to  
think she was upset.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

Jenny grinned genuinely. "I was thinking about the difference a year has made."

Luke smiled back. "A year older."

"Sort of," Jenny answered as Luke laid his jacket down on the wet  
grass and folded himself down onto it. She followed him. "That's just  
it," she shrugged her shoulders up and laid back down to look up at  
the sky. "It's been a year on earth, but I don't really know how long  
it's been for me. Sometimes what's two years for me is a few days here  
and vice-versa. It all depends on when we land."

"It's relative," Luke laid back, resting his head against hers. He  
paused and linked her fingers with his. "Not that it should matter."

"It doesn't, really." Jenny said. She pointed towards the sky. "See that star?"

Luke tipped his head closer to hers and used his free hand to follow  
where she was pointing. "That one?"

"Yes. Now, go two billion light years west and about fifteen  
centuries into the past and you'll be in the Draconeus galaxy. Home to  
a very angry group of native fish-people who seemed to think we were  
responsible for their drought."

Luke frowned. "If they were fish, wouldn't they need water to live?"

Jenny grinned. "Exactly. And we arrived just in time for the dust  
storm. Actually, I think the TARDIS was responsible for the dust  
storm." She shrugged again. "Anyway. That's where we were." She nudged  
his shoulder with hers. "What were you up to?"

"Nothing exciting. Exams, mostly. Oxbridge." He hesitated. "It's  
been a bit slow alien wise." He paused. "Well, there was the dog pound  
incident."

Jenny raised an eyebrow.

"A sort of intergalactic dog catcher set up shop in the old puppet  
theater downtown. Only instead of catching dogs, he kept catching what  
he considered stray people."

"And by stray you mean. . ."

"Kids out on their own, mostly. Sometimes homeless. Apparently,  
there's a very large market for strays in the Frinsian quarter."

Jenny tipped her head so she could see him properly. "How did the exams go?"

Luke stopped staring at the sky and turned to look at her in the  
abruptness of the topic change.

"Alright, I guess. I won't know for a few more months."

Jenny tugged lightly on her ponytail and bit down on her lip. "Do you  
know what you're going to do?"

Luke shook his head. "I don't even know where I'm getting in."

Lie. Or at least a modesty. He'd get in wherever he wanted to go.  
There wasn't going to be anyone with better scores. But she supposed  
he was saying the truth as far as he knew it.

"You could come with us for awhile."

She was looking very distinctly at her own hands. Dad would freak. He  
had a very strict "no boyfriends" policy. No significant others at  
all, although she didn't think that applied very well given his  
fascination with Constance. Who would gladly have returned the  
fascination if he'd let her. And if Jenny weren't about.

Luke was shaking his head. "I don't think Mum would go for that." He  
paused. "You could stay here over the summer."

She wasn't sure she'd be able to handle that. Nor would Sarah Jane  
deal very well with her being constantly about.

"I don't know how well that would work out. I might go stir crazy."

Luke shrugged. "I might get homesick."

Jenny chewed on her lip some more.

"We need some time," Luke said, slowly. "When I actually start  
university it's going to be even more hectic. And a lot harder for you  
to pop in and out if I'm in the dormitories on whatever campus I'm  
at."

"When are classes out?"

"Two weeks."

Jenny bit down to the point she broke skin on her mouth. "It would  
save you money on phone charges if we could talk face to face."

What a ridiculous thing to focus on. She refused to roll her eyes at  
her own bizarre inclinations.

She didn't know when Da would be back to pick her up. He'd said  
"three days", but knowing him three days would be two weeks.

She could ask for two weeks. . .

Jenny sat up now, tugging her phone out of her pocket as she did so.

"I could hang around here until you're out of class," she said  
slowly. "See how we get on in each other's constant company."

Luke tipped his head to the side and sat up with her. "We could find  
out we do better in small doses."

That was what she had been thinking and she was relieved to know he'd  
thought of the same thing. Or at least that he was following her train  
of thought. She hated to think that might be the case, but what if the  
reason they liked "together" so much was that they never got it that  
often?

Jenny frowned. "I'd need somewhere to stay."

"I think Mum would let you keep using the guest room."

Jenny wondered how long Sarah Jane's hospitality would hold out.  
She'd never stayed beyond a few days before.

"We could ask," Luke said. "The worst that could happen is they say no."

"At least it's the beginning of a plan."

Luke stood up now, tugging Jenny to her feet as he did so, and  
accepting the jacket she handed him.

"if they say no, we'll think of something else," Luke said, already  
tugging slowly across the wet glass.

Jenny followed quickly along behind him, slipping and sliding to keep up.

Two weeks. Not too long, but not too short. At least enough time to  
think of something else.

They could come up with a more permanent solution later.

It was a start of something resembling normalcy.

Or at least as close to normal as they could get.

It was worth a shot.


End file.
